How do you factor the expression $x^2 − 3x − 88$ ?

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Answer 1 · 2016-03-16T12:42:54

$(x + 8 ) (x-11)$ is the factorised form of the expression.

$x^2 - 3x -88$

We can Split the Middle Term of this expression to factorise it.

In this technique, if we have to factorise an expression like $ax^2 + bx+ c$ , we need to think of 2 numbers such that:

$N_1*N_2 = a*c = 1*-88 = -88$

AND

$N_1 +N_2 = b = -3$

After trying out a few numbers we get $N_1 = -11$ and $N_2 =8$

$8*(-11) = -88$ , and $8+(-11)= -3$

$x^2 -color(blue)( 3x) -88 =x^2 color(blue)(- 11x +8x) -88$

$=x(x-11) + 8 (x-11)$

$=(x + 8 ) (x-11)$

How do you factor the expression x^2 − 3x − 88x^2 − 3x − 88?